(Taguig City) To support the Department’s direction on energy security and sustainability, the Department of Energy, headed by Secretary Carlos Jericho L. Petilla, and other energy stakeholders collaborated in the drafting of a stronger energy plan for the Visayas.
The two-day Visayas Energy Forum was attended by several key players in the industry namely electric cooperatives, power companies and generators, legislators and members of the DOE attached agencies. Local government units as well as representatives from the Department of Interior and Local Government were also present in the affair.
The discussions centered in bringing the energy planning process down to the local levels as well as prepare for natural calamities that adversely affect our energy facilities.
The proposed energy plan aims to act as the blue print for indigenous energy development and utilization. It also empowers LGUs and various sectors to plan ahead for their energy needs.
“I encourage all local government units to play an active role in the electrification process to ensure an energy secured nation in the future”. Sec. Petilla said on the importance of LGU’s on this undertaking.
Sec. Petilla likewise discussed the on-going study for a policy issuance on auctioning of aggregated energy requirements.
The event was well-timed as it presented the current energy situation in the Visayas. For one, 51% of the total 8, 095 sitios in the Visayas have been provided with electricity in accordance with the Sitio Electrification Program while 75.4 % out of the potential 4, 067, 692 households were already electrified in fulfillment of the Household Electrification Program.
For 2014, three plants are expected to come online with a total capacity of 129 MW (8 MW SACASOL P2, 8 MW Villasiga HEP, 31 MW URC Biomass, 82 MW TPC Expansion).
This Energy Forum is a start of a series of meetings concerning the drafting of the Visayas Energy Plan. It was made possible through the support of United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United States Agency for International Development (USAID), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).